[jartelt]

I spent a week in Banff National Park last September and was able to go on several different day hikes. Each of the hikes started at a different lake within the park. We visited Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake, Bow Lake, and Lake Louise. A typical experience is to drive to a lake, park your car and take in the great views of the lake, then find the trail head and begin a hike which leads to even better views of the lake and surrounding mountains! We stuck to trails that were relatively short for the most part (<10 miles round trip), but were still able to get some great views. If you are comfortable scrambling, there are ample opportunities to reach the top of several peaks in the area. I imagine the views from the top of the peaks would be awesome. Below are some of the highlights from the trails. Here is a link to a more comprehensive report I wrote up with all my pictures of the trails: https://backpackers-review.com/trip-reports/banff-national-park-highlights/ Moraine Lake and the Eiffel Lake Trail: Beautiful Moraine Lake as seen from near the parking lot

Moraine Lake from the shore

Moraine Lake from Eiffel Lake Trail

Hiking along the Eiffel Lake Trail

Eiffel Lake and Wenkchemna Pass

Peyto Lake and the Bow Summit Overlook Trail: Peyto Look as seen from one of the upper lookout points

Peyto Lake from the lower viewpoint

View of Bow Valley from the Bow Summit Overlook Trail

View of Bow Lake from the Bow Summit Overlook

Panoramic view of Peyto Lake

Bow Lake and the Bow Glacier Falls Trail: Bow Lake from the shore

Bow Glacier Falls Trail along the shore of Bow Lake

Crowfoot Mountain over Bow Lake

Canyon with stream feed by Bow Glacier Falls

Bow Glacier Falls

Lake Louise and the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail: Lake Louise from near the parking lot

Lake Louise and Fairview Mountain

Looking towards the Plain of Six Glaciers

Near the end point of the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail and viewpoint

[flatsqwerl]

Nice photos. So what time in September did you go?

[jartelt]

We were there over Labor Day weekend, so very early September. The weather was a little rainy at times, which helped knock the wildfire smoke out of the air. Other than that, we enjoyed the cool, crisp air during our hikes.

[timberghost]

Can't get enough of that area.